Photo Gallery: Manchester Town Hall Open Day

Posted by Helen Nugent | Nov 9, 2024 | Archives

Northern Soul photographer, Drew Wilby, heads to Manchester’s iconic Town Hall building ahead of its temporary closure for work to safeguard, repair and partially restore it.

The Town Hall bells rung from 8.45am-10am and 4pm-5.15pm as part of an open day before the 140-year-old Grade I-listed gem closed its doors to the public from January 15, 2018 to enable the Our Town Hall project to take place.

The 3,900 people who snapped up the free tickets to the open day were given the opportunity to explore the Town Hall’s magnificent state rooms including the famous Great Hall and Bees mosaic.

Last year, Northern Soul went behind the scenes of Manchester’s iconic Town Hall ahead of its closure. To read the article, click here.

About The Author

Helen Nugent

Helen Nugent is the Founder and Editor of Northern Soul. A Northern lass, born and bred in Manchester, Helen has been back in her home town for 13 years after working in London for The Times and a number of other national newspapers. You can find articles by Helen in, among others, The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, the i newspaper, The Observer, Big Issue North, The Yorkshire Post, and The Spectator. Previous roles include producing and presenting the business news at BBC Radio 5 Live and on BBC local radio across the UK, and freelancing for The Daily Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Times, and the Financial Times. She also spent 18 months as Money Editor of The Spectator. During ten years at The Times, she won a series of awards including Journalist of the Year and had a number of jobs including News Reporter, News Editor, Lobby Correspondent in the House of Commons, Business Reporter, and Financial Writer. In addition, Helen runs her own media training and PR consultancy firm, Helen Nugent Consulting. Helen has appeared on Sky News, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC World Service, talkRadio, and GB News. An experienced chairperson and speaker, she regularly chairs conferences and events for, among others, literature festivals, award ceremonies, and tech shows. She was also a Guest Lecturer at Westminster University in the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, and a Guest Lecturer at City University and at MMU. She taught Music Journalism at Salford University for a number of years, and taught Political Reporting at Huddersfield University. In 2017, she was shortlisted for Person with Purpose at the Northern Power Women Awards. In 2019, she was a judge for the HWA Gold Crown Awards which recognise the best historical novels. Feel free to drop her a line at nugenthelen@hotmail.com or via the contacts page. All correspondence is welcome, particularly if you would like to share a magical Northern experience.

Photo Gallery: Manchester Town Hall Open Day

About The Author

Helen Nugent

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Photo Gallery: Manchester Town Hall Open Day

About The Author

Helen Nugent

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